The Arcane Assassin
by Oreana Galena
Summary: Following the aftermath of the attack of the Dark Egg Legion on Layla-Ne's home village in the East, the now blind and orphaned geisha works on starting over again at another town that offers secret help to the Brotherhood of Guardians to stop the domination of the growing Legion.. (MORE INSIDE)
1. Chapter 1

_**Summery**_: While I would have loved to make Wildfire and Layla-Ne pick up in the normal zone, that would give away a lot more spoilers to the graphic novel Chaotically Intertwined than I would like for it to, so that's why I chose an AU of sorts. This was the top voted FC/FC pairing of mine to do a story on, so here we go~. (Also, Metalico is a new OC feline I am working on). She's my Dark Egg Legion calico-koi. ~3

_**Description**_: Following the aftermath of the attack of the Dark Egg Legion on Layla-Ne's home village in the East, the now blind and orphaned geisha works on starting over again at another town that offers secret help to the Brotherhood of Guardians to stop the domination of the growing Legion. But when the village is suspected of their traitorous ways, one of their top assassins moves to the town, and forces the villagers to ask for Layla-Ne to overcome her past and weaken the raging Wildfire emotionally before he can be contained or slain. (**Wildfire x Layla-Ne**) (**NC-17, will be edited here due to content**)

_**Musical Inspiration**_: "Superstar" – S.H.E.

"Euphoria" – Loreen

"Moonlight Shadow" – Mike Oldfield

"Mizu No Madoromi" – (If I remember right, it was an ending to some anime…I forget which—it was dated)

_**Copywrite**_: Wildfire/ Layla-Ne/ Sasu-Ne / Cole / Stephan-Ne / Halania/ Lien-Hua / Moni-Fa / Metalico / Other nameless side characters: Oreana

Brotherhood of Guardians / Lien-Da/ Moritori Rex: Archie/ Penders

* * *

_I still have nightmares about it. So hard it is to look back fondly on my childhood without that horrific imagery of the beheading of my father, or the sounds of my little sister screaming as our inn burned around her, and the last vision of my mother running in to save Stephan-Ne only to have the burning boards trap them both inside. It was years ago, and without my eyes, all I can seem to replay visually are those moments._

Layla-Ne could remember the sand beneath her feet as she played with a ball (almost bigger than she was at the age of five) that one of the performers from their inn had given her. Her laughter filled the cool, evening air as she tried to throw it up and catch it, only to fall backwards trying to grab the multicolored toy as it came back down towards her.

Hearing her daughter, Sasu-Ne walked towards her slowly as her kimono layered in different hues of purple appeared to glide across the beach's sand as she did so. When Layla-Ne's innocent, light-blue eyes caught her own, the pure white echidna woman smiled brightly to her daughter. "What do you have there, sweetheart?"

_My mother was like an angel in my young eyes, though twice as beautiful and twice as kind. I always admired her, not only as a selfless and loving mother, but as a daring geisha._

_She had gone against her parent's wishes to marry my father—a black echidna with light-blue markings who worked as an entertainer at the inn as well. A majority of my mother's bloodline was bred to be geisha performers and to maintain a pure white coloration in the process. Turning down the man she was betrothed to marry, she followed her heart to my father, Cole._

"A ball!" Layla-Ne answered with a playful giggle, grabbing back up the toy to hold it above her head.

Sasu-Ne lowered to her knees, the sunset around them painting the scenery in a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors as the sun beckoned to the coming night. "You best play with that ball back at the house, Layla-Ne, my dear," she whispered tenderly, opening her flared, sleeved arms to beckon her child to her. "It is getting late."

Keeping a hold on the ball, she scurried over to her mother, reaching for her with one free arm. Scooped up into her mother's embrace, Layla-Ne looked out at the setting sun over the horizon before turning her attention to the surrounding woods, which kept their village safe. It was a bit of a walk back to the inn, but there was always that single candle that was lit there at the windowsill, which belonged to her parent's bedroom.

_It was always that light—that single candlelight—that made me know I was safe, and I was home whenever I was escorted to the inn, or I made my way back from my time about the surrounding woodlands when I was older. My parents would always light it whenever any of us would be out and about past six at night. It was like a beacon, and I do miss seeing its comforting glow…_

Stepping into the view of the window, Cole smiled with relief at seeing his wife and daughter returning home. Grabbing up the candle, he removed it from the windowsill as he made it to the entrance to greet them both. "I was wondering when you two would be home. I was concerned you wouldn't make it for dinner," he teased, kissing his wife's cheek affectionately before kissing Layla-Ne's forehead with a warm, welcoming expression to her.

_My father was a born storyteller. He wrote stories for my mother to act out with her dancing. As the two collaborated with each other, it was there that they began to fall for one another as they saw how well they worked with one another. I can still remember clearly the times my mother would try to get my father to dance and openly perform with her beyond being just a narrator to her own dancing. She would grab his hands and try to get him to dance with her, but he would always insist that he'd leave such things to my mother._

_I miss hearing their laughter…and I miss the sound of my little sister, Stephan-Ne's, voice…._

_She was born when I was nine-years-old, on the coldest day of the year. Little Stephan-Ne favored our father with her mostly black fur and white markings. She was practically my shadow as I tried to learn being a geisha and performing tea ceremonies with my mother._

"Now," Layla-Ne remembered her mother saying to her years ago, "do you have everything in order to begin a tea ceremony?" Sasu-Ne was sitting on her knees across from Layla-Ne to make sure she performed the ceremony correctly. Still, her daughter had been messing up a few things, and she wanted to make sure Layla-Ne's teas were flawless before letting her loose to perform on her own.

Layla-Ne took a deep breath as she tried to relax when actively learning at the age of ten. "Okay…ummm…I have my chakin," she said, pointing at the small, rectangular cloth there on the tatami flooring. "I also have the tea bowls." Layla-Ne admittedly remembered almost fumbling with them, and seeing the startled expression of her mother was enough to make her tremble, as she knew breaking anymore would probably be upsetting for her mother. "There is the tea scoop and the tea whisk…" Her fingers touched each item respectfully before moving to the last object. "…And I have the tea caddy." Layla-Ne grabbed the lidded container, which was an apple red with soft, white designs etched into it.

"Good, good," Sasu-Ne praised, remaining still as she continued with the lesson. "Alright, so what do we do before we start a tea ceremony?"

"Oh! We greet our guests!" Without another word, Layla-Ne folded her hands, hiding them in her kimono sleeves, as she bowed respectfully to her mother as if she were a guest.

"Now, you may begin making the tea," Sasu-Ne instructed with a gesture of her hand after returning the bow.

Opening the tea caddy, which held the tea, Layla-Ne laughed nervously as she put the lid back on it. "Ummm…I don't know where the powdered tea is…" She had remembered she found the container empty, and the displeased look of her mother was easy to shrug off as it was a gentle disappointment at best. With her little sister nearby, Stephan-Ne gently grabbed onto Layla-Ne's hand to try and look into the empty bowl with a few cooing sounds of interesting.

"Don't worry, mom! I can find it!" Putting the tea caddy down, she picked up her little sister and ran to hunt down the powdered tea she knew she was carrying earlier. "Daddy! Have you seen my powdered tea!" Layla-Ne yelled, her bare feet beating against the tatami flooring.

Sasu-Ne couldn't help but sigh as she placed her head in her hand.

_While my time with my family felt like any other out there, our village was responsible for holding runaways…and not just any runaways…Dark Egg Legion runaways._

_Families that were torn apart, villages that were burned down in their name, Mobians that were forced to gain unnatural, robotic enhancements…we offered them an escape in our inn, as our home was a stopping point to where they could reach better salvation—salvation with the Brotherhood of Guardians._

_The Guardians were faceless to me. I only knew one by name, and that was because he rescued me that night long ago._

_The Dark Egg Legion was catching onto us, it seemed. Constantly, they would come to our inn and try to terrorize us and our guests in attempts to get us to speak of where the 'traitors' were being kept. Whenever my mother told Stephan-Ne and I to hide—that voice of worry, laced with hate—it would cause my white fur to stand on end as I hurried to my bedroom with my sister. I couldn't help but peek out my door to try and listen to the conversations that would be held._

_It was always that same man's voice (as I was to believe he patrolled the area about where my village was). His voice was low and venomous. I don't think I found an ounce of humanity in it whenever a word escaped his lips. He would destroy furniture with whatever goons he brought with him, and the sound of the wood splintering was enough to make me retreat back into my bedroom with my sister in fear they would grab us and drag us into the argument._

"There is nothing for you here!" Sasu-Ne insisted angrily, narrowing her eyes at the Grandmaster. "You have no reason to be tearing up our inn!"

"I am not dumb, you witch, nor am I blind," the Grandmaster growled angrily, aiming his gun directly at Sasu-Ne and Cole. "If you continue to harbor traitors here, we will gladly burn this place to the ground with you inside of it."

Sasu-Ne and Cole refused to budge, figuring they had been good about being secretive, so the Dark Egg Legion's threats wouldn't shake them now. Stepping forwards, Sasu-Ne gestured to the door angrily. "Leave. Now! I will not have you in my family's inn another moment longer!"

Layla-Ne remembered hiding under the covers with her sister, relief washing over her at the slamming of the rice screen door. She wanted her heart to stop beating rapidly with worry, but she couldn't help but feel anxious whenever the Legionnaires were nearby—good or otherwise.

"Layla…?" Stephan-Ne's young voice called as she held her favorite teddy bear close to her chest.

Holding Stephan-Ne close to her chest, she kissed her upon her head. "Yes? What is it?"

Stephan-Ne nuzzled into her older sibling. "Do you wonder what it must be like—to have a metal arm and not a real one?"

Looking at the covers above her head, Layla-Ne narrowed her eyes in thought. "I guess…it just seems like it would be painful." She shrugged her shoulders while running her fingers through Stephan-Ne's white hair. "I know they do it for more strength and power but…I like myself the way I am."

With the sounds of the inn quieting down beyond the door, Stephan-Ne smiled as she looked up Layla-Ne. "I like you the way you are too."

_However, we should have taken the Dark Egg Legion at their warning…Before I knew it, they attacked in the middle of the night when I was merely fifteen. The explosion, just outside of our home, shook the entire house and even sent me flying out of my bed._

The lights flickered violently before they went out completely from the electricity shorting out. Layla-Ne heard her bedroom door fly open soon after and her father's voice calling to her. "Layla!" he said quickly, hurrying to her to grab her up and help her stand. "We've got to go, sweetie! We've got to get out of here and head to Koika Village!"

Those who were in the inn were screaming and tried to evacuate, but the sudden burst of flames made it almost impossible for some. The rafters were letting out the most horrific cracking sounds compiled with the screams of the many poor souls who were trying to find a means to escape. Layla-Ne made the mistake of looking over at the main hall where the explosion had apparently happened. She instantly felt sick to her stomach at seeing the dead and the dying there underneath the broken rafters and other destroyed furniture items, which had apparently even pierced the bodies of some.

Cole was quick to cover her face with his flared sleeves. "Don't look, Layla-Ne!"

"What about mommy!" Layla-Ne exclaimed over the chaos that was happening around them. "What about Stephan-Ne!"

Unable to hear her words clearly, he made it out of the inn in one piece with Layla-Ne, relieved to see his wife soon following behind him. "S-Sasu-Ne…!" Cole panicked, looking around the clearing as he hunted for Stephan-Ne. "Where is Stephan-Ne!"

"I thought she was following you out…!" Sasu-Ne answered, worryingly in return. Turning her tearful gaze back at the burning inn, she saw that the entryway had yet to collapse, and the more she focused on the screaming and crying, the more she realized that it was her daughter crying for her. "Stephan-Ne!" she exclaimed hysterically, turning quickly on her heels and running back through the crumbling entryway.

"Sasu-Ne, wait!" Cole begged, but his words fell on deaf ears as the frantic mother was already back into the burning building to find her daughter.

Seeing the boards fall to block the only possible means to escape, Layla-Ne screamed tearfully. "_**Mommy! Stephan-Ne!**_"

Cole knew it would be too much to handle to watch the rest of the building burn, and to go in on a suicide mission when his daughter needed him was enough to make him turn away tearfully and run with Layla-Ne close to him. "We must go…!" he whispered, the words stinging in his throat as he spoke.

Layla-Ne looked up at her father, her tears blurring her vision, as she exclaimed, "But what about mom and Stephan-Ne!"

Before Cole could hope to answer, a shot rang out and struck him in the back. Releasing his daughter, his body contorted into absolute pain before falling to the harsh ground.

_And there they were…five of them…all of them Dark Legionnaires, which glared at us as though we were the lowest life form to them. Seeing some of their robotic eyes sizing me up was enough to make me crawl to my father and bury my face into his shoulder in hopes I would just wake up to find it all some horrific nightmare._

_However, the smell of his blood was enough to remind me otherwise._

_After realizing that I had probably lost my little sister and my mother to the Legion, I was more than willing to just let them shoot me right then and there with my father. But…that was all too 'nice' a death, I am sure…_

The legionnaires began to pull from each other to allow way for a decorative, Grandmaster with a flowing cape and a large, letter M across his chest to step forwards. His eyes narrowed angrily down at Cole and his daughter, causing Layla-Ne to cower close to her wounded father. "I warned you both what would happen if you didn't listen to us," the Grandmaster growled. "Now you will put the blood of your wife and your children on your hands!"

_I recognized that voice. It was the very same man who had threatened my family to begin with. Even now, I don't think I'll ever forget it._

"M-My wife died…protecting the people you took pleasure in dismembering and making part of your n-numbers…!" Cole growled defiantly, narrowing his amber colored eyes at the Grandmaster. "Sh-She and I b-both knew what we were getting into…! B-But I will say…to s-slay my youngest daughter…and n-not even wince…" He clenched his fists while baring his teeth, tears rolling down his cheeks in the process. "_**That's just despicable!**_"

The brown furred echidna gazed still at Cole with an unimpressed raise of his brow. What followed happened so quickly. Without another word, the Grandmaster grabbed up one of the nearby legionnaire's swords and came down upon the entertainer's neck to sever his head from his body with a sickening sound of metal cutting bone.

Layla-Ne screamed, pulling back from her now deceased father. Her eyes wide in terror, she knew, for sure, that the sticky liquid that she could feel splatter on her face was of her father's. "Da…Da…Da…!" She couldn't even form the word properly as shock had gripped onto her tightly, like a hungry rattlesnake eager to suffocate its dinner.

"I had no use for him," the Grandmaster admitted, tossing the blooded sword back to the solider he had taken it from. His cold, hard eyes fell upon Layla-Ne, who was sitting there in an inconsolable look. "Now, for you."

As he kicked the body out of his way, Layla-Ne looked up at the Grandmaster with eyes that looked more dead than anything. She almost appeared not of herself as she sat there waiting to see what he would do. When he appeared to struggle with an idea, Layla-Ne folded her arms in front of her before lowering her head as if to bow before him in surrender.

_I wanted him to kill me. My mother was gone…my sister was gone…my father had been slaughtered right there before me…I wanted that night to be over, but I made the mistake of verbally asking them to make it so…_

"Kill me," Layla-Ne remembered begging tearfully. "I've done nothing to you…so I feel I deserve a quick death."

Grabbing her by her hair, the Grandmaster forced her to her knees again regardless of the screaming she did. "Your family has put me through hell, child. Do you honestly think you deserve a quick death? No. I am going to make you suffer as I have for failing to retrieve the traitors your family helped smuggle away from me." Here, he turned to the other legionnaires. "Hold her."

The cold metallic hands of the legionnaires grabbed Layla-Ne and forced her to be still as the nameless Grandmaster pulled out a vile of sorts. She didn't bother to struggle, but that was probably because she was trying to remind herself that she could eventually meet her parents in the afterlife.

_I didn't care the pain…I just want to be with them…no matter how long their torture may last. _

_But, as the Grandmaster stepped forwards, he explained that he wanted me to live out my time as a legionnaire, and if he had to rip my heart from my body and hide it away into a protected chest to stop me from taking my life, he would do it—he would make me live a long life as nothing but metal that could only be repaired again and again and never find peace._

"First, we'll start with your eyes," he said with a sick grin as the legionnaires' grip on Layla-Ne tightened to prevent her from squirming away. "This poison should burn them right out—slowly, but surely."

Out of reflex, Layla-Ne closed her eyes quickly, but it mattered not what she did. The poison was able to find its way to its target, causing her to throw her head back and scream at the horrible burning sensation that took her over. Opening her eyes out of hope that the cold night air would stop the burning, it merely worsened it. Screaming even louder, she started to thrash about violently, covering her hands with her eyes as her sight worsened to the point that it became nonexistent.

_My tears and agony were euphoric and pleasing to them, as I thrashed about on the ground. Throughout my screaming and crying, I hadn't realized that they were soon attacked, and the legionnaires scattered from whence they had stood._

_I was blind…in horrific pain…heartbroken…_

_A touch, which reminded me so much of my mother's, soon held my wrists sweetly as a woman called out to me (over my pain) that I would be alright. I could feel her big, bushy tail attempt to give me a pillow as she worked on finding the problem with my eyes._

"Guardian Spectre!" the woman practically screamed, as she was eager to make sure Layla-Ne lived. "I need your help!"

Hurrying over towards the peach furred squirrel, the cloaked guardian did his best to try and save the geisha's eyes, as he worked on rinsing them out. "Can you open them?" he asked, wondering what damage had been done to her, as the others were having very little luck finding survivors back at the burning village. He didn't want to believe he had failed everyone.

Layla-Ne struggled to open her eyes, but upon doing so, the air gave them such a mighty sting that she closed them quickly and began heaving from her tears.

Spectre sighed, closing his red eyes in shame, but did his best to remind himself she was still very much alive. "Her sight is gone…but she can learn things over again with this…unfortunate development." He hated to sound so forward, but there was nothing left for her there.

_I can live without my eyes, and I have for ten years since that day…but living without my family has become a constant struggle. I miss them so much. I can see their smiling faces and hear their laughter in the back of my mind, but it is fading the older I get._

_Halania, the one who found me that night, helped me subdue the bitter and hateful beast inside of me as well as teach me where everything was back at Koika Village until it was easy for me to maneuver like it was nothing. I continued being a geisha, because that was a part of my mother that I never want to forget. The dancing—it is a mixture of pain and joy given everything it reminds me of._

_I wake in the middle of the night, and I find myself still replaying that horrible event. My mind teases me into thinking I could have made a difference those many years ago._

_But, now that I am safe here at the very village where the Guardians work in secret to bring down the Dark Egg Legion, all I feel is a subtle adrenaline for revenge. I will do what is asked of me to help take them down, but I will not rest—I will not die—until I find that man again with the dark, malice riddled tone, and end him._

_~Layla-Ne _


	2. Chapter 2

With the traumatic nightmares of her past plaguing her again, Layla-Ne woke with a subtle gasp. Her blind eyes shot open to shift about before the sudden pain reminded her that it was best to leave them closed. The 25 year-old echidna turned over in her bed with a soft sigh until jumping at the sound of her alarm going off to remind her it was time to get up. Her hand quickly fondled for the clock there on her nightstand.

The loud ringing soon done, she ran her fingers through her light-blue tipped hair, which was quite the mess from sleeping. Grabbing onto the covers of her bed, Layla-Ne rolled out of bed upon feeling that her hair had fallen from the perfect style it was in the night before. She sighed with a shake of her head. "I'll have to get Halania to fix it…" Since it was harder for her to do her own hair still, Layla-Ne had been sleeping with her hair styled day in and day out like the geishas of the past were usually enforced to do by sleeping with her neck on a small support instead of a pillow. Because of the aggressive dreams, however, Layla-Ne would be lucky to not thrash about and ruin the hairstyle.

Groping for the hairpins, she pulled four of the six out, realizing that the others had probably gotten lost in the covers or on the floor. Since she had been raised in that room for ten years, it wasn't too difficult to drift about it like she could actually see. Her fingertips touched the covers to find the other two, sure enough, not far from where her head usually rested. Wrapping herself tightly in her robe, she walked quietly across the floor to find her way to the door that led outside into the bedroom hallway.

"Halania?" Layla-Ne called, as she thought she heard some rustling about upon opening the door. "Halania, are you there?" She kept her hand to the wall nearby, waiting to see if there would be a reply of some sort.

"I'm in the kitchen, dear," the peach colored squirrel's voice called from a slight distance, as she could hear the blind geisha just down the hall.

Hearing 'kitchen', Layla-Ne knew just where to go without the worry of where the voice was coming from. Her hand reminding on the wall, she minded the tables and such that she knew by heart given the many times Halania would walk her up and down the hallways to help her get used to the layout. Her fingers soon brushing against the Braille on the nameplate for 'kitchen', Layla-Ne slid the door open before stepping inside.

"Halania, I came to ask you—." Layla-Ne's question was cut short as she felt her body hit a table, which she wasn't used to being there before. Out of reflex, she grabbed the edges quickly, but heard something slide off of it all the same and hit the floor with a thump.

"Be careful, dear!" Halania gasped, covering her mouth at the idea that Layla-Ne was hurt. What was on the table was nothing of importance—merely a few folded pieces of clean hand towels the squirrel was going to give the cooks that morning. "Are you alright?" she asked, hurrying over to help her put the table back where it was originally supposed to be.

"Y-Yes, but I heard something hit the floor. What was it?" Layla-Ne asked, kneeling down to try and find the item.

"Oh, don't worry about it, love," Halania insisted, grabbing her wrists and helping her stand to her feet once more. "Besides, that table wasn't supposed to be there. It's not your fault."

Lien-Hua, the purple furred snow leopard wasn't far from the two, lounging in a chair nearest the doorway to their break room when her ear twitched at the conversation being had. "Yeah, it's not your fault Mitzee keeps moving shit when we ask her not to." While a performing geisha who could act ladylike, she tended to lose that appearance when out of the public's eye and around those she was most comfortable with. "Mitzee!" she yelled, her ears turned under in a furious manner. "Stop moving shit!"

Halania rolled her eyes at Lien-Hua's horrid attitude as well as the return yell from Mitzee, where the calikoi promised she hadn't done anything. "Honestly," the squirrel sighed as she turned back to Layla-Ne. "Anyways, sweetheart, what did you need?" Bending down quickly, she grabbed up the hand towels to put back where they were earlier.

"My hair," she whispered, reaching up to the bundled mess. "I was wondering if you could fix it for me?"

Furrowing her brow, she smiled at the young geisha. "One of these days you're going to have to learn that on your own, but I will help you, Layla-Ne." As she examined the white echidna, Halania looked closer at her gray muzzle and just under her eyes. She had noticed that there were tear marks that hadn't yet dried. Halania knew bringing out the bad dreams again wouldn't be best, so she rubbed Layla-Ne's upper shoulders with a brief smile. "You know what? Why don't you go to the hot springs for a moment and relax? I'll do your hair after I get a few things ready before our shift?"

Layla-Ne said nothing of it as she nodded, but she could sense something off in Halania's tone. Reaching for Halania's wrists, she squeezed them gently before pulling from the room to make her way to the hot springs in the back of the inn.

One of the warriors of Koika Village wandered the main entrance with another guard beside him. They had been on edge lately given underground warnings that the Dark Egg Legion might be heading in their direction.

"I am sure it was just gossip," the beige colored horse grumbled to his counterpart. "How is the mayor even certain he can trust the inside help he is getting?"

The ear of the other horse, black in color, twitched slightly to the words of his fellow guard as he expelled a nasally sigh. "Not all those who are part of the Dark Egg Legion entered their ranks willingly."

The light brown colored horse didn't appear too keen on that response. "So, basically, what you're saying is that we're just going to accept the words of a person who may or may not be a backstabbing traitor?"

Raising his armored hand quickly, the black steed snorted irritably. "Quiet," he demanded, his eyes shifting about nervously. His ears started to twitch about excitedly at the distant hum of machines. "Do you hear that?"

The other guard was about to respond that he heard nothing until he realized that the grinding of a mechanical engine was getting rather close. Readying his sword and shield, the two stallions bared their teeth with their ears flat against their heads at the sight of the hover vehicles, sporting the logo of the Dark Egg Legion, coming closer to the gates of their town. From where the two stood, the dark furred horse counted mentally how many hover cars were coming towards them.

"There's 5 of them, and there's a large vehicle in the center that could have…who knows how many of them," he grumbled, digging his hooves into the earth below him. "Samuel," he muttered to the other guard. "I am going to run to the mayor to let him know they're here. Stall them," he demanded, turning on his hooves and running in the opposite direction.

Samuel didn't have time to argue as the other guard took off. He was hoping his nervousness wasn't coming through in how he presented himself when all of the machines, transporting the legionnaires, soon stopped and each Robian began to depart slowly. The wrinkled brow of Moritori Rex managed a scoffing look at the single guard there to greet them as he took to the front of the gathering group to talk to him.

"A single guard to greet us? My eyes are not as old as you'd like to believe they are," Moritori growled, narrowing the robotically enhanced eyes at the stallion. "Where did the other guard disappear to?"

Samuel, admittedly, was too frightened to even open his mouth. There appeared to be 10 or so legionnaires standing before him, and he knew only one would be needed to take him down. When he managed to find his words, his nose wrinkled in disgust. "I don't need to tell you that…"

Moritori Rex shifted his head slightly with a sly smirk. "Metalico?" he beckoned over his shoulder.

Stepping out of the group, the calikoi (the body of a calico with the koi whiskers, long, scaly tail, ears, and fins on her forearms and calves) with a robotic collar and robotic left hand and right arm stepped forwards. As she began a steady, unflinching walk towards the guard, she fanned the robotic fins on her right arm to use a shield in case she had to before suddenly jetting her poisonous nails from her fingers to strike the guard in the neck and bring him to his knees instantly.

With her foe down, she grabbed him up by her robotic left hand with relative ease. "Don't make our Grandmaster ask you again," Metalico's robotic voice warned, her collar flashing as she spoke.

Moritori Rex could see from where he stood that the guard wouldn't last much longer, and he was defiant in not speaking. His robotic eyes zoomed further into the village to lock in on the other guard's energy pattern he had sensed earlier. "Another horse," he murmured with disappointment. "They're faster than those of us here. Except—Wildfire!" Moritori beckoned with a snap of his fingers.

The brown furred echidna with a wide-brimmed rice hat with runes embedded on it stepped forwards, his tied back bi-colored hair of black and dark auburn whipping about in the very early morning breeze. "Sir?" he asked, trying not to sigh about how Moritori had beckoned him.

"Go after the other guard. He's a black stallion in armor. With your magic, you can easily catch him," Moritori Rex said, gesturing down the road before them. When he saw the furry echidna about to take off without another word, he was quick to grab Wildfire's wrist eagerly. "Wildfire—do not mess this up!"

Wildfire snarled at the grab to his wrist, jerking his hand back before taking quickly towards the nearby tree to climb up to the branches overlooking the rooftop to use the roofs as his means to sneak up on the running guard. With the sun having not risen yet, it was easy to use the morning night as a means to keep himself hidden as he did his best to try and catch up to the guard. Reaching behind him for his staff looking weapon, Wildfire pushed the button in the center of the two, large light-blue gems adorned upon it to have the weapon whip open into the shape of a bow. He narrowed his shadowed, green eyes at the unsuspecting guard as he reached behind him at his empty quiver to conjure up an arrow made completely of arcane energy upon the bowstring being conjured by the same magical substance. Placing the arrow to the magical string as he continued his pace, he closed one eye with a smirk. "Gotcha…!"

Before he could hope to fire the arrow, the edge of the inn's rooftop he found himself upon suddenly gave away under his weight, and Wildfire lost his concentration causing both the bowstring and the arrow to disappear. "The fa—!" He nearly swore, falling face first into the hot spring that was there to break his fall.

Making his way to the surface of the warm lake water, the legionnaire gasped for air, spitting out the water he had accidentally inhaled from surprise. "Lousy roof foundation! Who the hell makes a rooftop that cheaply!" he growled, his fluffy fur being weighed down tremendously from all the liquid soaking through it. Moving from where he was, he grabbed up his hat, shaking it dry best he could before putting it on his head once more. "Dammit…dad's going to be pissed at me."

Layla-Ne had easily heard the commotion from the side of the hot springs she was at, making her feel her way through the many rock formations to try and find her way to where the source of the sound came from. "Hello?" she called out finally, unaware if it was just a minor collapse of something or if someone had indeed joined her not far away. "Hello? Is someone there?"

Hearing the female voice, Wildfire looked over his shoulder at the naked woman covered only by a measly towel. His muzzle burning a bright red at the sight of her, he grabbed his hat quickly and shifted it downwards in front of his eyes. "I-I'm sorry, ma'am! I lost my footing and I-I fell…!"

Realizing that it was a man there on the other side, it was Layla-Ne's turn to blush. Making sure the towel was around her properly, she merely shrunk down to where only her face could be seen over the rock structure that separated the two. "O-Oh my…Wh-Where did you come from? Are you one of the guests here? If you are…you do realize the men's area is on the other side of the inn…right…?"

Wildfire finally found the courage to pull his hat a bit from his line of sight to see her face was still noticeable, but the more he looked at it, the more he realized she had her eyes closed. "Y-Yeah…about that." His finger tapped upon the hat he had before turning slightly where he stood.

Layla-Ne heard something vaguely familiar there in his leg as he did so and it made her heart squeeze. She could hear gears grinding faintly together there on his body. "Y-You're…I can hear robotics on you…wh-who are you?" Layla-Ne asked nervously, slinking further out of sight. Her heart was rapidly beating at the thought of being slaughtered right there in the hot springs.

The legionnaire found this odd. She could just open her eyes and see for herself, but he didn't push it given the uncomfortable position they were both in. Realizing that his attire was getting soaked through the more he stood there, he quickly scrambled to 'dry land' near the inn. "It is probably my leg you hear," he commented in regards to his left leg, which had robotic rings about where his knee used to be. "I lost a part of it when I was a kid from a bad magic accident."

"Magic…?" Layla-Ne asked, keeping her head turned towards his voice, as she couldn't very well see if he was naked or not.

"Yeah, 'magic'," Wildfire responded, taking his shirt off and wringing it out, shaking his fur in the process like a horse trying to be rid of an annoying fly. "You know, stuff that you can cast with your hands and a thought or two?"

"I've heard of it, yes," Layla-Ne insisted, trying not to sound insulted, as she wasn't sure if he was a legionnaire or not just by one robotic she heard. "I just don't know many people who can actually use that sort of thing. Lien-Hua can, but if I remember what she told me, she uses some exorcism strips of sorts. I don't know if it is the same thing."

"I don't know, lady," Wildfire answered, putting his wrinkled attire back on after doing his best to try and make it less wet looking. "I am not a ghost buster. Anyways, the Dark Egg Legion didn't know how to teach me magic, and I was born with it in my blood—literally—so when I was trying to learn to cast when I was ten, it backfired and the spell nearly lost me the ability to use my leg. They fixed it for me, though."

Hearing the Dark Egg Legion in his voice, Layla-Ne began to tremble slightly with a raise of her brow. "So…you're one of them? You're a legionnaire?"

"Last I checked," Wildfire responded simply. Looking back over at the towel wrapped woman, he still saw that she had yet to open her eyes. "Why don't you open your eyes? You're the one who is naked; not me."

Deciding it would be best not to explain the loss of her eyes, Layla-Ne swallowed harshly as she responded to him. "I lost the use of them when I was fifteen…it hurts to even open them to any light source and even the air can sting them." Keeping herself hidden behind the towel she had in her hands, the geisha did her best to slink further away from him as she felt around the rocks about her. "Anyways…perhaps, it is best you leave. I do have to get out at some point, and I can sense from your voice that this makes you a bit uncomfortable."

_Who wouldn't be?_ Wildfire thought as he kept his gaze averted best he could. Grabbing back up his rice hat, he situated it back in place with a nasally sigh. "I lost my target anyways, but I still need to go back and face my punishment of such. Sorry for the intrusion." Keeping his back to her, Wildfire brought his index and middle finger together while bending the others on his right hand before conjuring up a portal, which would take him closer to the entrance of the village.

Layla-Ne could hear the foreign sounds of the spell being cast before everything suddenly went quiet again. Such a means to leave was new to her, and she couldn't help but shift about nervously. "Hello…? A-Are you still there…?" She thought she heard the weight on the boards nearest the inn had lightened, but she wasn't sure since no doors had opened.

The door to the inn did soon budge, and Halania noticed that Layla-Ne appeared distressed from where she stood. "Layla?" she called, her bare feet careful of the floorboards as she made it to the outside hot springs. "Layla-Ne, what's wrong? You look confused." She squatted near the edge, outstretching her hand for when the blind woman would come for her.

"There was…a legionnaire here…" she muttered, almost sounding a bit hysterical in the process, hurrying towards Halania with her hand frantically waving back and forth until her fingers gripped the fur of the squirrel's arm.

"Legionnaire, you say…?" said Halania, sounding surprised as she helped Layla-Ne out of the hot springs to help dry her off. As she was doing so, she was taken off guard by the sudden tight hug of the blind woman.

"Th-They're not here…are they?" Layla-Ne's voice trembled as she spoke, hoping the man she had spoken to was one that didn't enjoy being in their ranks.

Halania wrapped her long, bushy tail about Layla-Ne's lower back for comfort as she caressed the strands of her light-blue tipped hair. "Shhh, it'll be okay. I am sure the guards, as well as the guardians, will do their best to keep us safe. I won't let anything happen to anybody or this inn; I promise." Wrapping the towel tighter about Layla-Ne, Halania turned to help her back inside and out of the morning chill.

The stallion had managed to make it to the mayor—out of breath and hardly able to get a word out until he took to a chair, which was offered to him. "F-Forgive me, sir, b-but I thought it was in your b-best interest that you know the D-Dark Egg Legion—."

The mayor spun around quickly, the chubby panda's ears wiggling slightly at those last few words before cutting his guard off. "—Are here!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide as he looked to the door not far away to lock it quickly. Moving his hand from the door, he rushed back to his guard with a frantic expression. "They are earlier than expected…! I don't want to think the contact I've entrusted is lying to me..."

"Do…what do you wish of me to do with them, sir?" the guard asked, still trying to regain his composure of running so fast. His straw like tail whipped about nervously at the idea of even going to these men alone.

The mayor struggled with himself as he brought his finger to his lips in thought. He didn't desire to speak with them personally either, as he was far from a warrior, as those days had passed. Shaking any doubt or ideas of pushing it off on others from his mind, he looked to the guard and answered: "Bring them to me. I will see what they want. I won't have them burn this village down."


	3. Chapter 3

With the legionnaires walking the village, the silent town became deathly so. All the doors were shut and locked and very few lights were even left on or indicated to be. Wildfire had waited to make sure his clothes were decently dry before finding the courage to walk down the road at a slow pace. He wasn't exactly eager to meet his father and tell him that he had failed at stopping the guard. On his way to do so, he did notice some of the villagers gasping at the sight of him and quickly removing themselves from his presents. It was a sort of loneliness he had grown accustomed to. It was better to be feared above all else—at least, that's what his father told him.

Spying the group of legionnaires just up ahead, he noticed his father in the front, and he couldn't help but lower his hat slightly with a shameful sigh to himself. _Well…here it goes…_

Moritori Rex stopped when he saw his son coming his way. Seeing the way Wildfire walked, he knew it wouldn't be good news, and he crossed his arms over his chest with a disapproving frown. "Judging by how pitiful you look, I am going to guess that you failed?"

Wildfire grumbled, as he knew some of the water was no doubt weighing down his fluffy, brown fur. "A roof collapsed underneath my footing, and I lost him when I fell into a hot spring…"

"I guess roof jumping was more 'ideal' to you than actually chasing behind him, eh?" Moni-Fa scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. The echidna legionnaire had ivory fur and the longest, almost white beige hair anybody had ever seen. Since the legion had griped at the archer for keeping it so long when she only had one good eye, they did punish her for it by removing all her dreadlocks but the robotic one on her left. All of them were just stubs now with robotic links on them.

"It was the only way I could get an angle on him and not worry about running into people!" Wildfire spat, hating the constant competitive nature that was in Moni-Fa. "You'd know that if you spent more time out on the battlefield!"

Moritori Rex saw the anger glisten in Moni-Fa's one good eye that wasn't covered up by an old piece of fabric. Pushing against his son, he growled with a furious look in his old, blue eyes. "I will deal with you later! Right now, we better find that damn mayor, since you were incapable of getting the idiot guard in time!"

Wildfire caught his footing from his father's unsuspected push, huffing from the harsh words and actions Moritori had unleashed upon him. Trying to ignore the minor chuckling as well from the others, he shook his head. "One slip up—just _**one**_," he whispered to himself as he turned on his heels and headed behind his father and the others to locate the mayor of Koika Village.

Once back inside of the inn, Layla-Ne's hair was soon fixed back up thanks to Halania's help, and she had clothed herself for the evening shift she usually worked. However, after the incident in the hot spring, she found herself less than excited to perform for others. Her nerves were wrecked and the past was starting to play horrifically again and again in her mind. _Will another village have to burn all for the sake of their crusade?_ Her heart squeezed at the thought of the many families that lived in the village that may suffer the same fate she had years ago.

Calming herself, she did her best not to cry as the poison would no doubt act up and harm her damaged eyes. A gentle knock upon the door caused Layla-Ne to shift her head slightly over her shoulder where she assumed the door was. "Come in," she beckoned, hearing it open slowly in an 'unsure' way.

"Layla?"

The blind geisha knew that voice anywhere. It was Mitzee, the calikoi. She never knew two things could honestly come together to make one being, but apparently Mitzee's mother was a koi siren. A smile graced her gray muzzle as she tilted her head slightly to the side. "Is it time for my shift? I forgot to set my alarm for the moment, so I wasn't sure…"

Mitzee could tell that Layla-Ne sounded nervous—frightened, even. Checking to make sure their innkeeper wasn't anywhere nearby, she slipped into the room with a cautious closing of the door. "Are you sure you'll be able to perform tonight…?" she asked, her webbed ears wiggling slightly as her shoes silently slid across the flooring of Layla-Ne's bedroom. No matter how quietly she tried to walk, the mat usually gave her away. "I know you're startled about the…well…you know."

Layla-Ne frowned sadly. "I know I could be selfish and say I have not a thing to live for considering what they did to me in the past, but that would, not only, be heartless of me to say for those who care for me, but also me thinking nothing of the many, happy, families and lives here…"

Unsure what to say at first, Mitzee idly swayed back and forth a bit nervously with her long, koi fish tail flopping about on the ground. "Don't think like that," she finally begged, her arms moving behind her as she continued to shift back and forth. "For all we know…they might just be here to investigate, and then they'll be gone…"

She could hear the floorboards moaning each time Mitzee shifted. Layla-Ne couldn't help but chuckle with a shake of her head. "Stop squirming so much, Mitzee. You're going to damage my floorboards," she lightly joked, hoping to change the tone of things for a moment.

Knowing that they would both get in trouble for continuing to delay their shift, Layla-Ne slowly rose to her feet with a forced smile. "But, you are right—there is no point worrying about something we are uncertain of." Outstretching her hand, she managed to find Mitzee's upper arm to squeeze it gently with reassurance. "But, I will be fine. Serving guests will…hopefully take my mind off of things. Besides, if we don't go now, Madam Pinaeya will probably have our backsides."

Mayor Pi-Chen waited just outside of the temple he resided in with the black stallion guard, Blaze, beside him. The panda bear crossed his arms before him with his hands buried in his sleeves as he witnessed the Dark Egg Legion troops heading in his direction. While, inwardly, he was a bit fearful of so many coming to his place of work, Pi-Chen did his best to not let it show.

"What if they attack?" Blaze asked, looking down at the mayor.

The panda's green eyes narrowed slightly as he kept his focus on the Robians in the distance. "They will not attack."

"How do you know this?"

Pi-Chen looked back up at Blaze with a serious look in his eyes. "Even if they do, we will die trying to at least take one or two with us." Turning his focus back to the oncoming army, he stroked his braided beard when looking at the bull in the group. "You can take the big one, though."

While a teasing gesture, Blaze couldn't help but snort at the comment.

Moritori Rex soon stood before the mayor and the guard, who had escaped earlier. "Mayor, we have come to speak with you regarding…accusations, which have drifted to our ears lately."

Pi-Chen walked forwards before bowing before the Grandmaster with a rather hardy greeting. "Ah, Grandmaster Moritori Rex; what an honor it is to see you here!"

Frowning at the greeting, Moritori gestured crudely to the old man. "Spare me the crap, bear, and tell me of these rumors I've been hearing!"

The mayor did his best to smile and hide any evidence in his actions alone that might incriminate him. "Rumors hold as much truth as any untrustworthy devil whispering in our ears," said the mayor calmly and matter-of-factly. "Have you any proof of these rumors being factual?"

The Grandmaster narrowed his eyes, causing more wrinkles on his brown fur to become more defined. "That is why I am here." He grabbed his gun to aim it right at the panda. "I am giving you a chance to speak the truth in this matter."

Pi-Chen knew what either outcome would do. At least with lying, he would be giving his people a fighting chance at the very least and another day to live. "I have not seen or heard any evil doings against you, Grandmaster, and by the Goddess herself, we wouldn't dream of doing such." He tried to stand perfectly still and act as though the charging weapon wasn't making him uneasy.

As the two continued their speech, Wildfire drifted his eyes about the town from under his rice hat and bi-colored bangs. "Your town acts on edge with us here," said the assassin. "Somebody who doesn't have anything to hide normally doesn't stray into a ghost town when we arrive. If anything, they glare at us."

"You've threatened and torched villages around us, son," Pi-Chen pointed out with a very disapproving and stone cold look of his own to the assassin. "How else are we deemed to act? Love and acceptance is only given when returned. You and your kind so rarely give it, so we starve you of it."

Moritori couldn't deny that his son was onto something. The village became scarce in life the moment they walked through the front gates, and it was hardly time for an entire village to 'shut down'. "If you are telling the truth then, mayor, you won't mind if I ask you to accommodate some of my legionnaires, would you?"

Pi-Chen felt his heart squeeze and his old knees threatened to buckle. Denying the request would no doubt lead to the legionnaires turning everything inside and out just to find if they had been smuggling and or harboring escaped, traitorous legionnaires. Shaking his head, he managed a smile. "I would be happy to."

Moritori grinned. He could sense the uneasiness in the mayor's tone, but didn't point it out at that moment as he holstered his weapon. "Good," said the Grandmaster as he snapped his fingers at the group. "Wildfire, Moni-Fa, Metalico, and Bronze—I want you four to stay here while the rest of us shall continue our patrol about the other nearby villages." His sly smirk shifted to the mayor and his guard. "I trust you'll see they get to where they can bed safely?"

Blaze stepped forwards at that moment with a motion towards the road behind them. "I know of an inn you can stay at. They will be happy to make rooms for you." His words were forced, but he knew if he didn't make their stay uneventful, he would be held responsible for any damages they may cause.

With his guard directing the four away to the nearby inn, he frowned at Moritori disapprovingly. "I am to trust that you won't let your speculations alone guide you in destroying these people? I will not let the embers you've unleashed in this peaceful garden erupt into an inferno unless you have evidence to."

"I will find my evidence, mayor," said Moritori Rex, turning away from the panda in the process. "And when I do, you'll regret your actions, which will lead to the downfall of your precious town." His cape flaring out behind him, the Robian echidna ordered for the others to follow behind him as he took his leave.

With everyone leaving the mayor alone, he finally relaxed and released a breath of relief in the process. His body shuttered from the terror he was locking away until they were gone. _I just hope we can hide our secrets…I would hate to bring the guardians into this mess, but, I may have no choice in the matter but to enlist in the aid of some…_

Since Layla-Ne didn't have to worry about tables that evening, she sat in the center of the western part of the dining room of the inn and played the shamisen while one of the other performers was asked to dance with another. She wasn't sure who they were, as none of their voices sounded familiar to those she usually spent her time with, but it mattered little to her as her thoughts wandered about the strange legionnaire she had accidentally run into earlier.

_He didn't appear to be very aggressive. If anything, he almost sounded…gentlemen like_, Layla-Ne thought to herself, since she knew the cords she was playing by heart. _I don't think I've met a legionnaire, who fought willingly for the Dark Egg Legion, to be that way…_

This was all mere speculation at best, anyways. Layla-Ne reminded herself that she didn't really have an awful lot of time to get to know the man who crashed into the hot spring when he did.

Mitzee remained at the reception desk for the evening, trying to hide the magazine behind the counter from Madam Pinaeya given the boring hours they hardly had customers walk in. When she heard the front door slide open, and the bell chime above it, Mitzee smiled a greeting to the coming customers. "Good evening, and welcome—!" She lost her words as she saw Metalico venture up to the desk and slam her metal hand down on the wooden counter. "M-Metallia…!"

The eyes of the fraternal twin sister narrowed at her 'younger' sibling. "Metalico," she corrected venomously. Pointing the poisonous, nail at her sister's throat, she grinned ear to scaly ear. "And it looks like I'll be staying with you for a little while. I hope you don't mind."

Mitzee began to sweat. She knew what those claws could do, as her sister had demonstrated it more than enough times in the past. With it just grazing the tips of her fur, she still couldn't find it within her to relax. With the guard, Blaze, coming through the door behind the legionnaires, she eyed him with a panicked expression. "G-Guard…what is the m-meaning of this…!"

Blaze shook his head. He couldn't talk to her about it out in the open to anybody. "Where's your innkeeper? I need to speak with her."

"Let me…let me go get her…!" Mitzee rushed out of the main lobby and hurried to find Madam Pinaeya. "Pinaeya!" she exclaimed, rushing through the many halls of the inn. "Pinaeya, I need to see you! This is urgent!"

The door to the office room flew open as a round, white, hare peeked out into the hall with a disapproving frown. Her messy, alabaster hair was kept in a very 'thrown together' style—causing strands of it to fall into her face. "What is the matter with you, child! You're screaming like the world is ending!"

Madam Pinaeya was very strict, and there was hardly a woman or man in the inn who truly enjoyed her as a person. It seemed all she cared about was the income the inn could get her. With it being a bit low lately, she had often thought of turning the geisha women into prostitutes, but the money situation had yet to be that dire.

"It might as well be…!" Mitzee admitted, her voice trembling as she spoke. "Th-The Dark Egg Legion…they're here with a guard…!"

Rolling up her sleeves angrily, she bared her teeth in an aggressive way before storming down the hall with her large rabbit feet thumping against the floorboards as she walked. "Not in my inn…!" she growled, the flop-eared rabbit wanting them out of her space.

With the sound of the round woman coming down the nearby hallway, Blaze could guess in the angry footsteps alone who it was. His black ears flew forwards when he saw the innkeeper coming right at them.

"What is the meaning of this!" Pinaeya exclaimed, seeing that there was not one, but four legionnaires there. She was trying not to lose her edge, but it was one thing to deal with a single legionnaire, but not four!

"Madam Pinaeya," greeted Blaze with a bow. "I am pleased to see you again. I have been asked by the Grandmaster himself if you would be so kind as to house these four as they do a bit of…'investigating'."

When Pinaeya realized that these weren't fleeing soldiers from the Legion, but indeed, light-blinded Robians, her tune instantly changed to nervous and welcoming. "Of course; of course…!" She did her best to bow with her hands together. "I will be happy to give you all rooms! For now, why don't you sit down and eat? I can offer you the service—free of charge!"

Blaze nodded at Mitzee. "Ma'am, if you wouldn't mind?" He was asking her, in a way, to please show the legionnaires to where they could sit, so that he could talk to the innkeeper a bit better about the situation.

"Y-Yes, sir…" Keeping her head lowered and her webbed ears folded down, she looked like a beaten puppy as her koi tail dragged across the floor. Having her fraternal twin there was more than she could bear. She was 'lucky' to often hear of her sister's misadventures on the enemy lines, but now she had to put up with her being there. "This way…"

Blaze turned to the white hare with a seriousness in his stance. "I need to speak with you in private."

Pinaeya had taken the horse down to her office where she found herself unleashing her disbelief in the matter. "Here! You chose _**HERE**_ for those metal bastards to be! Out of the other inns—honestly, Blaze!" She was trying her best not to screech, but it was hard to even control the volume of her voice on some parts.

"Keep your voice down, madam! If you get any louder, they will hear you!" Blaze snorted, flattening his black ears in irritation.

She poked the stallion against his armor with a look that could kill ten thousand men. "It was one thing when you asked me to horde those filthy rejects in here when they escaped the Legion's clutches…now you expect me to put up with actual members of that deranged occult!" Pinaeya did her best to keep her voice lowered, as she knew she could be caught and found out as well if her words were overheard.

"You were the only inn not harboring fugitives at this time, Pinaeya," Blaze reminded her, his ears remaining curled and his tone as equally cold as her look. "Need I remind you how boneheaded it would be on our part if we offered them an inn where their escaped members are hiding!"

Her hands on her wide hips, she wrinkled her nose. "Peft…I get punished for acting sensible! This hardly seems fair!"

Blaze rolled his eyes with a flaring of his nostrils. "Tell you what, madam," the guard began as he leaned against the nearby wall with an idle swish of his tail. "If you keep those legionnaires here for as long as they desire to stay, I will pay you double what you make in the week. Is that a deal?" He knew money opened up gates when it came to this woman, and this was the only way he could think to get her to agree with this—bribe her.

She was quiet for a moment until an ear twitch in interest. "Double, you say?" Pinaeya thought about the idea. It would certainly help ends meet a bit better than usual. "Fine then. If anything, it'll help pay for the cost of those idiots living here!"

Mitzee went from dining area to dining area, only to be turned away by each hostess. There was not enough space regarding dining that would suffice…except for…Layla-Ne's room, and that almost felt like the Goddess was playing a rotten joke on her. "Hurry up, already, dammit," Bronze ordered. "Is your establishment really so pathetic in size that there's hardly enough room for more than 30 people!"

While it was far from true, Mitzee bit her lip to correct the towering bull behind her. "Umm…n-no, there are more rooms… Th-This way…" Each step she took felt heavier than the next as she grabbed onto the rice screen door belonging to the western part of the inn and slid it open.

As soon as it was opened, the dancers stopped and the hostesses gasped with the few customers, which were being served. Layla-Ne hadn't stopped playing the shamisen until she realized the entire room went quiet. "What's going on?" the blind geisha asked one of the nearby dancers. "Who is here?"

Before anybody could answer, she heard the march of robotics and her heart threatened to stop beating at that dreadful sound. Realizing who and what was there, she rose to her feet in no time at all, and hurried for the exit door she knew was behind her somewhere. She had dropped the shamisen on her way there, her body hitting the door from not opening it in time until her second attempt. It was on impulse. The many sounds of those robotics terrified her, and she couldn't stand the idea of being in the same room with them. Overcome with terror and grief with ideas of what may befall their village, she fell to her knees there in the back hall and, regardless of how painful it was, sobbed into her hands.


End file.
